Switch Witch

Shortly after every Halloween we get a visit from the Switch Witch. She is a good witch who comes and takes the bad candy or candy kids don’t want and switches it for a small toy or craft. Now, this witch didn’t make it up to our home in Canada when I Was a little girl but wow is she genius! She takes away the pain of the kids taking out the many, many candies the kids know they don’t like or shouldn’t be eating but still hate to get ride of.

We first heard about her just a few years ago, after the Halloween the first year we were in our current house. We were en-route to school when I overheard my daughters talking with excitement about the Switch Witch. They were kindergarteners at the time so still in full princess, fairy and witch mode and big believers in anything magical with wings. They explained that one of their friends from school (who was also allergic to peanuts) put out all the candy she wasn’t allowed to eat a bowl in her kitchen before bed and the next morning the candy had been replaced with a toy. They were so excited about the idea of this witch and trading candy for presents!! Wow, what would they get? How many candies did they have to leave? I immediately jumped on board and said we had to see if she would also come to our house that night. Luckily I had a few small things from Target on hand that the Switch Witch could leave for them. Not knowing how many candies to leave out they decided on their age, 5. What blew me away was they only had 10-12 candies each. It had been a terrible Halloween that year with lots of rain and wind so they didn’t make it out to many houses but they were eagerly willing to trade in half of their candy for an unknown gift! I loved it because I was able to get ride of the candy I didn’t want them to eat, the candy with food dyes, or those that would badly stick to teeth and we reduced the overall pot of candy by 50%. Win-win!!

Since this first year, once September hits and the costumes flood the stores, there is as much talk about the Switch Witch and what she will leave as there is about actually getting the candy! Last year they decided to up to the ante and leave much more than their age (6) to see what would happen. Even though it meant a quick last minute trip out to the store, I didn’t mind getting an extra little gift. This year the girls are now trying to batter with me, how many candies do we have to trade in for one of you delicious spider cookies? Can we trade in some of our candy for the Whole Foods candy or a gelato ice cream? They are getting crafty!!